(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin). In this May 17, 2018, photo, Republican Senate candidate Kelli Ward talks about her platform policies at a Scottsdale Tea Party event in Scottsdale, Ariz. Arizona conservatives are torn between two icons of their movement -...

Arizona conservatives are torn between two icons of their movement - former Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former state senator Kelli Ward - in the GOP Senate primary.More >>

Arizona conservatives are torn between two icons of their movement - former Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former state senator Kelli Ward - in the GOP Senate primary.More >>

(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin). In this May 23, 2018, photo, President Donald Trump speaks to the media before boarding the Marine One helicopter on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington. Two House lawmakers who are allies of President Donald Tr...

A briefing Thursday about classified documents will be for just two Republican House members, both Trump allies, as Trump and his supporters in Congress press for information on the outside informant.

(AP Photo/Evan Vucci). President Donald Trump speaks during a signing ceremony for the "Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act," in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Thursday, May 24, 2018, in Washington. In a dramatic di...

President Donald Trump has signed into law a measure loosening key restraints for banks that stemmed from the 2008 financial crisis and Great Recession.More >>

President Donald Trump has signed into law a measure loosening key restraints for banks that stemmed from the 2008 financial crisis and Great Recession.More >>

The United Nations nuclear watchdog says Iran appears to be complying with a 2015 deal with major powers that was meant to stop it from developing nuclear weapons in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.More >>

The United Nations nuclear watchdog says Iran appears to be complying with a 2015 deal with major powers that was meant to stop it from developing nuclear weapons in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.More >>

An international team of investigators say that detailed analysis of video images has established that the Buk missile that brought down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 nearly four years ago came from a Russia-based...More >>

An international team of investigators say that detailed analysis of video images has established that the Buk missile that brought down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 nearly four years ago came from a Russia-based military unit.More >>

Congo's Ministry of Health says the number of confirmed Ebola cases has reached 30, including 8 deaths in the 3 affected health zones in the country's Equateur province.More >>

Congo's Ministry of Health says the number of confirmed Ebola cases has reached 30, including 8 deaths in the 3 affected health zones in the country's Equateur province.More >>

BAGHDAD (CNN) - Iraq received the rest of the Russian-made jet fighters Sukhoi-25 and they were seen flying over Baghdad on Tuesday.

Iraqi pilots were flying them in preparation for supporting Iraqi ground forces.

After much anticipation over how it would address the country's turmoil, Iraq's new parliament on Tuesday postponed its first session until next week, citing a lack of a quorum.

The move came after 90 members of parliament failed to return after a 30-minute morning break during the scheduled session.

"We are going to postpone because of an urgent matter," the speaker of the parliament said. He did not say what the urgent matter was, and it was not immediately clear what happened.

The newly-elected parliament convened with 255 out of 328 elected officials attending, which was enough for a legal quorum, the speaker said. But when many failed to return after the break, there were not enough members to continue.

Many expected Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to call for the formation of a new government on Tuesday as Iraq battles militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Al-Maliki and his Shiite-dominated government have been under pressure by Western and Arab diplomats to be more inclusive of Iraq's Sunni minority, who say they have been marginalized and cut out of the political process by the government.

Under Iraq's constitution, the parliament has 75 days from when it convenes to pick a prime minister.

Lawmakers are under pressure to move faster, but the political body has had trouble moving swiftly in the past. The last time parliament met to pick a prime minister, it took nearly 10 months.

American and Arab diplomats have said that the United States probably won't launch military strikes against ISIS and its allied fighters before a new government is formed in Iraq.

U.S. sends more troops to Iraq

But the United States is increasing its military presence in Iraq, ordering 300 more troops to the besieged country, the Pentagon announced on Monday.

ISIS militants have "continued to pose a legitimate threat to Baghdad and its environs," a U.S. official said. "We have seen them reinforce themselves around Baghdad enough to convince us more troops was the prudent thing to do."

The new troops, 200 of whom arrived Sunday and Monday, will provide security for the U.S. Embassy, the Baghdad airport and other facilities in Iraq, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby said.

Helicopters and drones are among the equipment included in the deployment, Kirby said in a statement.

The 300 troops are in addition to 300 U.S. advisers who will help train Iraq's security forces. They will bring the total of American forces in Iraq to about 800 troops.

Staggering death tolls

The magnitude of the Iraq crisis can be illustrated in the sharp rise in deaths over the past two months.

At least 2,417 Iraqis died in violence in June, according to the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq.

Of those, 1,531 were civilians, including 270 civilian police officers, and 886 were members of the Iraqi security forces, UNAMI said.

In May, 994 people died, according to the United Nations.

Iraq claims victories against militants

While ISIS has seized swaths of Iraq in recent weeks, Iraqi forces also have claimed gains.

The military has said it has been battling to retake Tikrit, the birthplace of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, and Iraqi state TV also said a pro-government tribal council has been established in the oil-rich and hotly contested city of Kirkuk.

The claims can’t be independently confirmed.

ISIS declares caliphate

Emboldened by a weakened Iraqi government that is struggling to stop their murderous advance, extremists from ISIS declared over the weekend that they have set up a caliphate - or Islamic state - spanning large areas of the two countries of Syria and Iraq.

In an audio message and written statement purportedly from the ISIS spokesman, the group called on Muslims to swear allegiance to the caliphate. Both Shia and Sunni Muslims have been deeply offended by the claim.

The message claims that the group's territory now spans from Aleppo province in northwestern Syria to Diyala province in eastern Iraq. It announced that ISIS was changing its name to just the "Islamic State."

On Tuesday, ISIS issued an audio recording claiming to be from its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. It can’t be confirmed that the voice belongs to al-Baghdadi.

In the recording, the speaker urged Muslims worldwide to come to the caliphate's aid, especially scholars, judges, doctors, engineers and soldiers to "answer the dire need of the Muslims for them."

Allegations of atrocities

Human Rights Watch, citing displaced residents and local activists and journalists, said Saturday that ISIS fighters kidnapped at least 40 Shiite Turkmen, dynamited four Shiite places of worship and ransacked homes and farms in two villages just outside Mosul.

Earlier in the week, in the predominantly Shiite Turkmen city of Tal Afar, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of Mosul, ISIS destroyed seven Shiite places of worship, Human Rights Watch said, citing local sources.

But allegations of atrocities are not just limited to ISIS. Amnesty International has said it has gathered evidence pointing to a pattern of "extrajudicial executions" of Sunni detainees by government forces and Shiite militias in Tal Afar, Mosul and Baquba.

Iraq's Muqtada al-Sadr, the maverick Shiite cleric whose political coalition beat out Iran's favored candidates to come in first in national elections, says he wants to form a government that puts Iraqis first.More >>

Iraq's Muqtada al-Sadr, the maverick Shiite cleric whose political coalition beat out Iran's favored candidates to come in first in national elections, says he wants to form a government that puts Iraqis first.More >>

(AP Photo/Jacqueline Larma). In this April 26, 2018 photo, Moumena Saradar, left, originally from Syria, guides visitors through the Middle East gallery at Penn Museum, in Philadelphia. The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropol...

Three Iraqi natives and a Syrian woman have been enlisted as guides to share a modern cultural perspective with visitors to new Middle Eastern galleries at a museum in Philadelphia.More >>

Three Iraqi natives and a Syrian woman have been enlisted as guides to share a modern cultural perspective with visitors to new Middle Eastern galleries at a museum in Philadelphia.More >>

Iraq's electoral commission says a political coalition led by influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has won the most seats in Iraq's national parliamentary elections, according to the release of complete results.More >>

Iraq's electoral commission says a political coalition led by influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has won the most seats in Iraq's national parliamentary elections, according to the release of complete results.More >>

(AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File). FILE - In a May 13, 2012 file photo, former Marine Cpl. and Purple Heart recipient Megan Leavey and combat dog Sgt. Rex participate in a ceremony before a baseball game between the New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners ...

A US Marine Corps veteran and the military dog she served with during the Iraq War are being inducted into the New York State Senate Veterans' Hall of Fame.More >>

A US Marine Corps veteran and the military dog she served with during the Iraq War are being inducted into the New York State Senate Veterans' Hall of Fame.More >>